Her Brother Has To Wear A Helmet, So This 3-Year-Old Asked Her Family To Do The Same

"We were just being our normal selves on a normal Saturday morning."

Sometimes a seemingly small gesture can show the ones we love just how much we care. In the case of the Gutierrez family, that meant wearing helmets in solidarity with their littlest helmet-wearing family member, Jonas.

Four-month-old Jonas was recently diagnosed with brachycephaly, a common condition which causes the back of a baby's head to have a flattened appearance, causing the head to widen. It often develops when a baby has a large head, puts repeated pressure on one part of the head by sleeping in the same position, or the condition can be due to prenatal and molding during birth. Jonas's condition may have been caused by all three.

"He was born with a really big head like the 99th percentile," Shayna Gutierrez, Jonas's mom, told A Plus in a statement. "There is a chance that his head even experienced some pressure and shaping in the womb because he was so big. He also was a great sleeper from the beginning and so, as a mom-of-two, I was like, 'awesome, he is such a good baby' and so I would feed him and then lay him back down as I healed from delivery and tended to my then 2-year-old."

Courtesy of Shayna Gutierrez

In the first few weeks of his life, Jonas developed a flat spot on his head and, because he was such a good sleeper, it got worse.

"He has great muscle control and does his recommended tummy time, but he just always settled on that spot and slept with his head right on it," Gutierrez explained. After a visit to the pediatrician, she and her husband, Gary Gutierrez, found out Jonas had a severe case of brachycephaly. The condition doesn't affect the baby's brain or development and, in most cases, it can be easily corrected.

"His head grew so rapidly that it had started actually pushing his head out to the sides It is even affecting his face shape and could distort his features if left untreated," Gutierrez said. "At first I felt a bit guilty, but I got over that quickly. It is kinda like braces ... mostly cosmetic, but could cause some issues [and] can be fixed with some hardware pretty easily."

So, Jonas was outfitted with a specially designed corrective helmet.

Courtesy of Shayna Gutierrez

"Jonas has had no problem adjusting to his helmet and we are super excited about the progress and changes that will be made to his head and face," Gutierrez said.

Still, the family soon started wearing their own helmets in an adorable act of solidarity — all thanks to Jonas's big sister, 3-year-old Camila.

Camila was so excited when she saw Jonas's helmet that she insisted she wear one, too. She put on her bike helmet and instructed her parents to do the same.

"She will show her brother her helmet and tell him she has one too," Gutierrez said. "He is 4 months old so he doesn't notice at all, but it is fun to see her interacting with him like that."

Courtesy of Shayna Gutierrez

On Saturday, Gary's cousin Shea Serrano tweeted out a photo of the family wearing their helmets at home. People were so moved by the gesture, the tweet went viral with over 26,000 shares and more than 108,000 likes.

my cousin's baby wears a head-shaping helmet so he's got the whole family wearing helmets now this is the realest shit i ever seen pic.twitter.com/hrsj4tMA6d

"We are glad that people find it so sweet and I love that Camila can be exposed to something valuable like inclusion for those who are 'different,' but the truth is we were just being our normal selves on a normal Saturday morning at home and just give in to the requests of our 3-year-old who asks us to wear helmets," Gutierrez said.

It just goes to show you how far a small, sweet gesture — and listening to 3-year-olds — can get you.